Pliers

ABSTRACT

THE RELEASE OF TOGGLE PLIERS HAVING A TOGGLE CONSISTING OF A TOGGLE LINK AND AN ACTUATING LEVER IS EFFECTED BY A RELEASE LEVER HAVING ITS FORWARD END PIVOTED ON THE ACTUATING LEVER AND HAVING A REARWARDLY EXTENDING HAND GRIP PORTION ADJACENT THE HAND GRIP PORTION OF THE ACTUATING LEVER. IN THE PRESSURE POSITION, A PROJECTION ON THE TOGGLE LINK TO THE REAR OF THE PIVOT HOLDS THE RELEASE LEVER SPACED FROM THE ACTUATING LEVER.

Sept. 2l, 1911 F. PATRICK 3,60803 PLIERS Original Filed )lay 9, 1968 INVENT OR ATroRNEY nted States Patent O Int. cl. Bzsb 7/12 U.S. Cl. 81-368 3 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE The release of toggle pliers having a toggle consisting of a toggle link and an actuating lever is effected by a release lever having its forward end pivoted on the actuating lever and having a rearwardly extending hand grip portion adjacent the hand grip portion of the actuating lever. In the pressure position, a projection on the toggle link to the rear of the pivot holds the release lever spaced from the actuating lever.

This application is a division of Ser. No. 727,815 led May 9, 1968 and now Pat. No. 3,545,315.

This invention is intended to improve the operation of toggle or vise grip pliers by a release lever having its front end pivoted on the actuating lever and having a hand -grip portion adjacent the hand grip portion of the actuating lever. The toggle link has a projection extending through an opening in the actuating lever in the pressure position in position to receive releasing force from the release lever.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a toggle pliers in the full open position, FIG. 2 is a section on line 2 2 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the pliers in the closed position.

In the pliers shown in FIG. 1-3 inclusive, a handle 1 carries a xed jaw 2 at its front end and has its back end 3 internally threaded to receive an adjusting screw 4 which may be turned by a knob 5. The adjusting screw may be locked in adjusted position by a lock nut 6 which may be tightened against a shoulder 7 on the end 3 of the handle to prevent turning of the adjusting screw. Associated with the stationary jaw is a movable jaw 8 pivoted at 9 on the handle and urged toward the open position by a coil spring 10 stretched between an air 11 on the handle and an eye 12 on the movable jaw. The handle 1 is conveniently made of channel cross section except at the end 3 where the handle is formed to a curved section so that it may be internally threaded to cooperate with the adjusting screw 4. The channel section permits the major portion of the spring 10 to be housed between the sides of the channel.

Pivoted to the movable jaw 8 is an actuating lever 14 of channel section withk its sides straddling the end 15 of a toggle lever 16 extending between a pivot abutment 17 on the inner end of the adjusting screw 4 and a common pivot 18 between the levers 14 and 16. The pivots 13, 17 and 18 together with the intermediate portions of the actuating lever 14 and the lever 16 form a toggle joint which in FIG. 1 is shown in the relaxed or open position. In order to develop gripping pressure between the jaws 2, 8 and an interposed work piece 19, the hand grip portion 20 of the actuating lever 14 is squeezed toward the handle 1, bringing the pivots 13, 17 and 18 to the dead center or pressure position shown in FIG. 3. Because of the toggle action, huge forces can be developed between the jaws 2 and 8. The dead center position of the toggle is determined by the position of the abutment 17 on the end of the adjusting screw 4. For thick work pieces, the abutment 17 is moved to the right as viewed in FIG. 3,

3,606,806 Patented Sept. 21, 1971 while for work pieces thinner than the work piece 19, the abutment is moved to the left. For repetitive work, it is desirable that once the abutment 17 has been adjusted to the desired position for the particular thickness of work piece, the adjusting screw 4 be locked in place as is conveniently done by the lock nut 6.

In the pressure or gripping position shown in FIG. 3, the pivot 18 is slightly above a centerline connecting pivots 13 and 17 so the actuating lever is subject to a force tending to move it in a counter clockwise direction about pivot 13. This is prevented by a stop or projection 21a on the lever 16 which bottoms on the bottom wall 22 of the channel section of the actuating lever so the toggle lever 16 is stopped in the position shown. In this position a projection 21 on the lever 16 projects through a slot 23 in the bottom wall 22 so that the end 24 of the projection bears against the bottom wall 25 of a channel shaped release lever 26 having its front end pivoted at 27 on the actuating lever 14. The pivot 27 is between the projections 21 and 21a and the pivot 13, and in front of the projection 21 so as to provide increased leverage for the release lever. The release lever 26 straddles the actuating lever 14 and the bottom wall 25 preferably conforms generally to the shape of the bottom wall of the actuating lever. In the pressure position, the projection 21 holds the bot torn wall of the release lever spaced or diverging from the bottom wall of the actuating lever. To release the grip of the jaws 2, 8 on the intervening work piece, the hand grip section 28 of the release lever is squeezed toward the outer surface of the actuating lever. This causes the actuating lever 14 to be pivoted in a clockwise direction about the pivot 13. When the actuating lever reaches the position indicated roughly by dotted lines 29, the common pivot or knee 18 of the toggle is moved to the jaw opening side of dead center. At this stage, the clamping pressure between the jaws is substantially released although the jaws have not opened appreciably. When the actuating lever reaches the dotted line position 29, it strikes an elastomeric coating 30 on the hand grip section 28 of the release lever. This cushions the shock. Because of the rela-l tively slight motion, the momentum of the actuating lever and the connected parts has not built up to a high level and only a thin coating 30 of elastomer is needed to reduce the shock to a comfortable level. The coating 30 not only makes the pliers more comfortable to the user but it also prevents damage to the pivot pins. When the pressure is released in a single stage, the full jaw pressure is available to accelerate the parts and when these parts are stopped in the full open position, the shock on the pivot pins has been suicient to bend or break the pms.

In the second stage of opening, the operator merely releases his grip on the release lever 26 and the spring 10 moves the pliers to the full open position. While the motion in the second stage of opening is large, the forces are not great because this motion is effected by the tension spring 10. The hand grip portion 20 of the release lever 26 extends toward and is adjacent the hand grip portion 20 of the actuating lever so as to be conveniently accessible for pressure release.

What is claimed is:

1. In a plier type toggle wrench having a handle with a stationary jaw at its front end, a movable jaw pivoted to said front end of the handle, toggle means for forcing the movable jaw toward the stationary jaw including an actuating lever having its front end pivoted to the movable jaw and the other end with a hand grip section spaced from and opposite the back end of the handle, an adjustable abutment on the handle, a toggle link having one end pivoted to the abutment and the other end pivoted to the actuating lever between its ends, the movable jaw being forced toward the stationary jaw by squeezing the hand grip section of the actuating lever toward the handle t bringtli'e common pivot between the actuatglever and ing a slot and said toggle link having a projection extend# ing through said slot in the pressure position, a release lever having its front end pivoted on the actuating lever in front of said projection and having a hand grip portion adjacent the hand grip section of the actuating lever, said release lever when squeezed toward' the actuating lever engagng said projection for prying the hand grip section of the actuating lever away from the handle to bring the common pivot between the actuating and toggle levers to the release side of dead center remote from the handle.

..2- The S-tructllrf .Claim 1 ia.wh i 2h thestonmaar comprises a projection on the toggle link to the rear of the first projection and a cooperating surface on the actuating lever.

3. The structure of claim 2 in which the actuating lever is of channel section with sides straddling the toggle link and the cooperating surface is on the bottom wall of the channel.

` References Cited l UNITED STATES P ATENTs 2,604,803 7/1952 McCann 81-370 2,711,663 6/1955 Petersen 81-370 LESTER M. SWINGLE, PrimryExaminer R. v. PARKER, JR., Assistantv Examiner 

